John Travolta and Olivia Newton John's Christmas video: I got chills, in a bad way

John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John re-teamed for a new Christmas album, "This Christmas."Universal

John Travolta owns his own airplane, so why does it appear that the only person he can afford to direct the video for his Christmas duet with Olivia Newton-John is the freelance videographer for the local Chamber of Commerce?

The motivations behind the "Grease" co-stars' decision to put out the album "This Chrismas" are noble enough — proceeds will be split between the Jett Travolta Foundation, named for Travolta's late son, and the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre in Melbourne, Australia. And the music is harmless enough, with Newton-John (who will perform at NJPAC Dec. 11)
doing the heavy lifting and Travolta mostly sing-talking through standards like "Winter Wonderland," "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" and "Deck the Halls."

But there are no excuses for this cheesy low-rent video, apparently shot at a private airport near Travolta's central Florida home, or for the accompanying countrified duet "I Think You Might Like It." (Wrong! Thanks for playing! ) "I Think You Might Like It' is the only original song, and it includes lyrics like "And then we’re gonna hide away/Making love all night And we can cry tomorrow/Watching 'It’s a Wonderful Life.'" Pan to Travolta and Newton-John in matching red shirts snuggling up on a couch watching "It's a Wonderful Life." We are spared other literalities.

The video opens with the weirdly-staged reunion of Travolta (sporting his equally weird hair-pelt and chin scruff) and Newton-John, and then we see a series of other reunions at the airport, including Travolta's wife Kelly Preston holding their young son Benjamin being greeted by her daughter Ella and her friends, and then a servicemen getting a reluctant bear hug from a police officer and then few random people doing their best to act gleeful. And line-dance. There is line-dancing.